lxii 
PROCEEDINGS OF THE 
5. “ Notes on a "Whirlwind at Ivinghoe, 11th September, 1834.” 
By John E. Littleboy. ( Transactions , Yol. Ill, p. 236.) 
The President asked if any water was drawn up by the whirlwind, and if this 
was the only Hertfordshire whirlwind on record. He believed that physicists were 
quite at fault in explaining such phenomena, and hoped that accurate observations 
by such Societies as theirs would throw some light on their causes. 
Mr. Hopkinson mentioned a whirlwind which occurred a few years ago about 
halfway between Watford and St. Albans,* and related some of its remarkable 
effects. He thought it would be more correct to say that trees were drawn out of 
the ground than that they were blown down, for whirlwinds seemed to have 
more a power of suction than of direct pressure, in fact they appeared to be like 
waterspouts in their nature. 
Mr. Littleboy said that the oak tree he mentioned had the appearance of having 
been twisted round and drawn out, with two or three tons of earth about its roots, 
leaving a round and conical hole in the ground. 
6. “ List of Flowering Plants observed in Hertfordshire during 
the year 1884.” By Ada Selby.f 
7. List of Lepidoptera observed in the neighbourhood of Hitchin 
and at Stevenage.” By John Hartley Durrant, F.E.S. (Commu¬ 
nicated by A. F. Griffith, M.A.) ( Transactions , Yol. Ill, p. 261.) 
8. “ Note on a Curious Habit of the Wagtail.” By J. Henry 
James. ( Transactions , Yol. Ill, p. 237.) 
The President remarked that it seemed most natural to infer that wagtails flew 
against a window in such a peculiar manner in search of food, but it might be 
that they sought warmth. It was well known that the air outside the window of 
a room in which there was a fire was warm, and as insects sought such warm 
layers of air, birds might also do so ; or, again, they might be attracted by their 
own image. 
Mr. Littleboy said that wagtails were known to have this peculiar habit of 
occasionally flying against windows. It might be that they did so to obtain 
insects, but he scarcely thought that such was the case. It was very rare for a 
pied wagtail to remain the whole of the winter in this district, and he thought it 
must have been a grey wagtail which Mr. James observed at this period. 
Mr. Hopkinson said that it was not always the case that wagtails went from 
one window to another as there was a light or a fire in the room, for he knew of 
an instance at Kingsbury, St. Albans, where a wagtail flew against one window 
only in the house at intervals for some months. An ants’ nest was afterwards 
found in the window-sill. 
Field Meeting, 26th March, 1885. 
ALDBURY AND ASHRIDGE PARK. 
At the “ Fungus Foray ” at St. Albans last autumn a desire was 
expressed for an annual “ Moss Hunt ” early in spring. For the first 
of these the neighbourhood of Aldbury was chosen, in order to search 
the chalk slopes of Aldbury Owers and Moneybury Hill. It was 
a whole-day meeting, the party, fifteen in number, assembling 
at Tring Station at half past eleven, under the guidance of Mr. 
Hopkinson, and with Hr. Braithwaite and Mr. E. M. Holmes as 
botanical referees. 
The habitat of the pasque-flower (.Anemone Pulsatilla) was first 
visited, and this very local plant was found to be just coming into 
* See ‘Trans. Herts Nat. Hist. Soc.,’ Yol. II, p. 95. 
f This list, recording ten species only, will be incorporated with the list for 1885. 
